Hi my name is Lisa, this is the first message I have sent on this forum. I am English and still live in England. I finished secondary school last year and started college (not university) in September but quit a few weeks ago after 6 months of hard work because I hated the subjects (apart from film studies) anbd was sick of being told what to do. I now do nothing during the week, apart from sunbathe when us Englishmen are blessed with a few hours of sunshine. I got the Internet installed finally this weekend, so I guess i’m now being naive thinking I can somehow take a step forward through finding contacts and help where I can.

I am going to be a film director and Quentin Tarantino is most definitely my inspiration- some of you may understand my username too! I am trying to find a job near me in Hampshire/Surrey, England but it is very difficult to get a jonb with a film production studio with no qualifications. I sent a couple of screenplay extracts to the William Morris Agency the other day so I am desperately hoping for some feedback from California.

Thanx, further education really isn’t for me, i’ve already proved that. I’m trying to get a job as a runner or something at the moment. I don’t know how to use a proper camera so I want to get some practice first. I also need the money from a job in the film industry to get the equipment I need to make a film!

well…get some friends together and work on some ideas…get a cheap digital camera…and have some fun!!

just get experience and in the proces have a lot of fun…if you re still serieus about it after you ve done that for some time take it to the next level and work on a good script, get better equipment and better actors…

uhm, I’ve posted this somewhere else…

but rodriguez says it best

http://www.exposure.co.uk/makers/minute.html

my advice: stop dreaming and get out and do something…its the only way you’ll find out if you have talent or even like to make movies…

I’m a film maker from Middlesbrough, been making animated shorts on and off for 15 years and last year I started getting into live action. I have no qualifications of any kind and I dont want any at my age, all I want to do is make movies for fun and for charity. Do what others have said, get a camera, meet new people interested in acting and make a movie.

Thats wat I did. My main ambition is to show the film on a big screen for all who took part. If anything happens after that festival-wise, then thats a bonus. If not, I’ll do another film next year.

That’s a good way of looking at things! I’m more impatient than that though, life is so short and I don’t settle for mediocre! I’m currently looking for a job as being a runner, even that’s not as easy as it sounds though! The only kind of contact I have really is my cousins ex boyfriend (they are still good friends). He went to uni and studied acting and has had a few good acting roles including The Royle and Casualty and he is now going into the film production industry, I might ask him for some help!

Find urself a local web forum, like this one but based in ur area. Thats what I did and thats were 90% of all my actors came from. At first I wasnt so sure if I’d get a response but by the time I’d finished advertising I had 30 people involved, and thats alot when your used to working alone.

[quote=“LisaLovelace”]
I sent a couple of screenplay extracts to the William Morris Agency the other day so I am desperately hoping for some feedback from California.
[/quote]

Did you send them actual examples from your script, or a query letter? And why the William Morris Agency? Why not start smaller with a place that takes new writers, you are a new screenwriter, right? Are you more interested in writing or directing or both?

As far as screenwriting goes, try posting your screenplay on a few sites and getting some feedback from other writers who are in the same boat as you. It really helps.

I’ve started my debut short film now and am just saving up for a camera. I don’t know why I sent them to The William Moris Agency, I thought it would be worth a go. I don’t know if i’m any good at screenwriting, i’d much rather be a director but I like to write for the fun of it.

dont know about you but i am mainly an arthouse fan, so i think independent film is the answer and the only way to go.

But even if you want to work in studios, youshould start making films and get practise and then make a good short film or even feature if you have a great idea. i been making films for a while now and i do everything from fillming, an dwriting to sound. so you just need to get some practise and then get stuck into it. think creatively cause thats what will set u apart creative in story but also in making the film to keep the budget low. Digital is the answer! its cheap and efficient, if you want good quality i suggest a 3ccd sony camera, but otherwise any DV camera will do cause most short festivals do video.

My camera is a 3ccd camera and ppl have used worse to make feature films in sundance and some have won the cinematography award! But the thing is they spend like 100 000 dollars sometimes on film slike that and that is unnecessary. Think of ways to keep it cheap, use your creativity, cause that is something that Hollywood envies in the independent filmmaker.